%0 Journal Article
%J Technology Innovation Management Review
%D 2017
%T Anticipating the Economic Benefits of Blockchain
%A Melanie Swan
%K blockchain
%K cryptocurrencies
%K cryptoeconomics
%K cybersecurity
%K digital asset registries
%K digital goods
%K distributed ledgers
%K economics
%K eWallet
%K lightning network
%K long tail markets
%K payment channels
%K programmable money
%K smart assets
%K smart contracts
%K streaming money
%X In this general overview article intended for non-experts, I define blockchain technology and some of the key concepts, and then I elaborate four specific applications that highlight the potential economic benefits of digital ledgers. These applications are digital asset registries, blockchains as leapfrog technology for global financial inclusion, long-tail personalized economic services, and net settlement payment channels. I also highlight key challenges that offset the potential economic benefits of blockchain distributed ledgers, while arguing that the benefits would outweigh the potential risks. The overarching theme is that an increasing amount of everyday operations involving money, assets, and documents could start to be conducted via blockchain-based distributed network ledgers with cryptographic security, and at more granular levels of detail. One economic implication of widespread blockchain adoption is that the institutional structure of society could shift to one that is computationally-based and thus has a diminished need for human-operated brick-and-mortar institutions.
%B Technology Innovation Management Review
%I Talent First Network
%C Ottawa
%V 7
%P 6-13
%8 10/2017
%G eng
%U http://timreview.ca/article/1102
%N 10
%1 Purdue University
Melanie Swan is a technology theorist in the Philosophy Department at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States. She is the author of the best-selling book Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy (2015), which has been translated into six languages. She is the founder of several startups including the Institute for Blockchain Studies, DIYgenomics, GroupPurchase, and the MS Futures Group. Ms. Swan's educational background includes an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Contemporary Continental Philosophy from Kingston University London and Université Paris 8, and a BA in French and Economics from Georgetown University. She is a faculty member at Singularity University and the University of the Commons, an Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and an invited contributor to the Edge's Annual Essay Question.
%R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/1109